Friday, May 3, 2013

That awkward moment when you look in the mirror and wonder
who broke into your house and has the audacity to stare back at you . . . Ok,
so we all do things that don’t exactly qualify as activities that build
character. But, it doesn’t mean that they have to qualify as activities that
destroy your character either. Once you realize that every action has been preceded
by a pattern that was set by you, you will start to consider the things you do
differently. It goes from being something that you just do to something that’s been
primed. An action doesn’t come out of nowhere. You’ve thought about it in some
capacity, whether it was a quick thought or you created a blueprint. When you
do things that are ‘outside of your character’ you’ve just made the first step
toward changing your character. You just have to decide whether or not it was
for the better or for the worst.

Sometimes you have to splash water on your face and wake up.
You have to consider the phrase, “You’re better than what you do.” If you’re “better”
than something, then why do you do it? Wouldn’t it be difficult to stoop to
something beneath you? Not being presented with the right opportunity and not
being capable of doing something are two completely different situations. You
have to ask yourself if you wouldn’t do it, or if you’re just waiting on the
opportunity. You never know how green the grass is until you cross the street;
hopefully you don’t end up making the trip only to realize it’s the same shade
as your own. Wasted time, curiosity, and energy, only to find out what you
already knew. Do yourself a favor and stay home. Stay home and water the grass
that you’ve already paid to stand on. And if it happens to be bad grass, then
move. Don’t tip toe over to the neighbors to enjoy their green grass only to
return to your own, smelling like fertilizer and discontentment.

Trust me; I’ve done some things that made me wonder who
raised me. Don’t try and outrun the truths that you would rather not
acknowledge because that makes the impact even harder when you finally cross
paths. The truth can set you free, yes, but it can also trap you. You’ll find
yourself stuck in a corner that you backed yourself into because you didn’t
want to face the hard facts. If you do it, it’s a part of you. Don’t justify
it, identify it. Identify where it came from and address the situation in hopes
of redirecting it.

Develop your negatives into positives; don’t just stand in
the dark.

You’ve just taken, An
Elective on Perspective

UMES Family!

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The countdown is on! In less than 24 days I will be another proud UMES graduate. It seems like just yesterday I was leaving Smyrna, Delaware headed for Princess Anne, Maryland, but that was almost 4 years ago I know graduation is right around the corner but the reality has not quite hit me that I will not be returning to UMES for the fall semester.

I will never forget the day I moved into University Terrace back in August of 2009. It was on that day that I decided that UMES was going to be my home away from home. I remember not knowing what to expect when I got to college. I moved in on a warm Saturday afternoon. I was greeted by a friendly resident assistant who gave me the key to my room. My mom and my cousin helped me move in, gave me their blessings, some mace (that I never had to use), and went back to Smyrna, Delaware.

That’s when it hit me… I didn’t know anybody at UMES. Here it was a Saturday; I had no TV and didn’t know anyone. I remember thinking to myself, “I am not sitting in this room staring at these blank walls all day”. So I decided to go for a walk to get to know the campus. I am so happy I decided to step out of my comfort zone and take a walk all alone on this big beautiful campus. When I went outside I ended up meeting a lot of people, some of them have even become close friends.

Now that I am less than 25 days away from graduation, I realize that my first day at UMES symbolized my change from a teenager to a young lady. It was the start of my college career, a part of my story.

Graduating produces a bittersweet feeling, if I must say. The fact that I will have to say goodbye to some of my friends that have become like family is bitter, the fact that I will have a Bachelor’s degree is sweet! I’m happy but I’m sad. For the last four years I have called UMES my home away from home. I have learned here and partied here, laughed here and cried here. Despite all of the trials and tribulations, I still made it to today!

Today I am a senior at UMES and I will be graduating in less than 25 days! My experience here at UMES has been one that I will never forget! I am still shocked to be a senior, graduating in less than 25 days! But overall I am ready to continue chasing my dreams in the real world outside of UMES.

Be blessed,

Kyla Bibbins

UMES Family!

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

What happened to the concept of treating others how you want to be treated?

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a few peers on the yard. We were standing outside of one of the male residential halls. I and two other people were in the middle of discussing the price of living in New York City as compared to Washington D. C. when someone interrupted our conversation and yelled a remark out of the male dorm. They said something along the lines of “Shut up about the price of living, D.C. price of living is expensive as (curse word)”. He was on the 3rd floor and I could not see his face. I didn’t know who was talking.

The comment was so random and unexpected that I quickly replied “Whatever. Go back to bed” and continued with my conversation. Before I knew it the person in the window was yelling from the third floor of the building that I should suck a (body part) and was calling me every name except a child of God.I was livid! Not only did he rudely interrupt our conversation but now he was aggressively calling me out of my name. For a quick moment I found myself responding to his remarks by calling him out of his name.I was full of anger and hostility. So I removed myself from the situation, something that at the time was difficult to do.

Once I calmed down, I was replaying the incident in my head when I realized that I was trippin’. How could I let someone that mattered so little to me make me so angry? The boy evidently didn’t know any better, but I do know better, so I should have just laughed at him and kept it moving, but instead I treated him as cruel as he was treating me by responding with harsh words. Why did I take him seriously? He was apparently a joke. I think the whole situation caught me off guard. I mean, who really expects to be disrespected like that by random strangers? The incident made me realize that I am human, and no matter how much I try to avoid negative situations or people, it is inevitable that I will have to face negativity. I guess it is how I choose to deal with negativity that decides the outcome of the situation.

Be Blessed,

Kyla Bibbins

﻿

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Monday, April 15, 2013

The one thing I’ve wanted since I was a little girl was actually happening. I remember taking weekend trips up to New York with my parents and older brother to visit my family. Driving through the city with eyes as wide as a child in a candy store, I knew that one day I would call this over populated city home. I wasn’t sure if it was the sound of the busy traffic and fire engines that pierced my ears late at night, the diversity of people that walked the jam packed streets or the fashion sense that made me fall in love with New York. Maybe it was all three things, but I loved the Big Apple something serious.

As I got older I started traveling up to the city by myself for the day. The independence of being in such a huge place on my own made me feel like I was sitting on top of the world. It was the first time I took the bus up to Manhattan on a solo day trip that I knew right away when I graduated from college I would do whatever it took to make this place my home. I spoke so highly of New York that my friends and family would occasionally get annoyed from my constant random conversations about moving there. I was always reminded by those closest to me that New York was way too expensive and I would need a great job in order to live comfortably. Those negative comments always went in one ear and out the other. I knew that my family and friends were only telling me the truth, but I wanted those closest to me to respect my dream just as much as I did. Although the price of living in New York was quite pricey, I believed that where there is a will there will be a way.

Around my junior year of college I started looking online at brownstones and apartments in New York just for fun. I continued browsing apartments for two years and finally January 2013, I set my dreams in stone. I finally told myself that I wouldn’t allow money to deter me from what I want most. I’ve always been one to trust in God and give all my worries and cares to him. That is exactly what I did and believe it or not, my prayers were answered. After dreaming for so many years, my dream has finally been made a reality.

I graduate from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on May 17th, 2013 and I will be leaving to begin my new life in New York City the following week. I am forever grateful for the many blessings that have come my way, as well as the one that will come my way in months to come. I have been living in Maryland for nearly 23 years and now is the perfect time to start fresh. We all dream, but so many times as human beings we give up on those dreams because we are either told they aren’t believable or we can’t achieve them. My advice to you is no matter how huge the dream may be NEVER EVER give up. I’m excited to begin this new chapter of my life and hopefully my story has inspired you to follow your dreams just like I did.

Is it me or does it finally smell like spring? You know that smell of fresh air and plants growing. It’s a smell hard to describe but easy to identify once it tickles your nostrils. I love the smell of spring! It’s like a reminder of all of the good things that come with spring, like: a break from heavy winter coats, flip-flops, sundresses, shorts, flowers, cook-outs, warm weather, longer days, the end of the semester and the list can go on and on!

It’s something about the pleasant smell of spring that makes people feel refreshed! Though we all know that the official start of the New Year is January, it’s as if the April smells signify the true beginning of a new year, or should I say cycle.

Be Blessed,Kyla Bibbins

UMES Family!

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Why do people tell you to follow your heart? I’ve never heard anyone tell you to follow your kidney, your spleen, or your lungs; they’re organs too! What logical and outstanding properties does your heart possess? Biblically we’re told that our heart is deceitful. But of course, that’s ridiculously outdated and judgmental, right? I mean really, who still listens to Jesus? *Raises hand*. I’m gathering a vast amount of knowledge from college. I learn through my surroundings. My environments teach me a lot more than I would be able to learn if I had to personally experience or learn each lesson myself. What is my most recent finding, you ask? My heart is shameless and trifling. But, most importantly, I’ve taught it to be that way.

Your heart reveals to you who you love. Your mind reveals to you who loves you. I find the latter to be the most important and the most useful. That is information that your heart can’t help you obtain. Your intellect has to take over and for the people who aren’t use to using there’s, they better make some time for that. If you pay attention to people and how they interact it’s easy to see where following your heart gets you. Just because you feel something doesn’t mean that it’s there, and just because you don’t feel something doesn’t mean that it’s not there. I am now trying to find the balance. When my heart and my mind learn to work together, I will be completely stable. And yes, that means I’m currently unbalanced.

Your mind controls what your heart feels. I think we’ve confused the function of the mind and of the heart. The mind’s function is to gather information, organize, and prioritize. The heart’s job is to make the final decision. But since the roles have been switched, the heart is left trying to sort through feelings that would not have been there if the mind was functioning correctly. I’ve seen so many reckless things that people have done because they felt led by their hearts and in the end they only had pain and embarrassment to show for it. If they were thinking, they would have properly deducted from the situation what would not have been good options and then their heart would have made the final decision; because by then it would have proven itself to be trustworthy. Don’t give your heart the blame for your mindless deeds. Think about it.

You’ve just taken, An Elective on Perspective

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

I have this friend who told me that when he is away from home he has to sleep with a silk scarf that he’s had for years. My initial response was that his ritual of being dependent on a piece of fabric for comfort was strange, until it hit me that I was in a similar situation…

I used to love playing with Barbies when I was younger. It seems like I had a million Barbies at one point. My parents even brought me a pink convertible remote-control operated Barbie car one Christmas. I was too thrilled, but the Barbie gift that tops them all, would have to be my Barbie Sleeping Bag that I got back in about 1996. I don’t know why I fell in love with that sleeping bag, but it truly has become the love of my life. I have slept with that sleeping bag almost every night since I received it as a gift 14 years ago.Since 1996 ,the sleeping bag has lost a few zippers and is now more like a blanket but other than the fact that its delicate from being washed a million times, it’s still like brand new, to me anyway.

It wasn’t until my first night sleeping here at UMES that I realized how one piece of fabric can mean so much to someone. My first night staying at UMES, I did not have a TV, Laptop or a roommate yet, so I didn’t know how to keep myself occupied. Of course I spent the first few hours meeting my neighbors and getting settled into my room, but at the end of the night I was alone with nothing but my thoughts. I never told anyone this, but I was feeling kind of lonesome and homesick, I think I even dropped a tear or two. I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours then I said a quick prayer to the man upstairs asking him to lift my spirits. Then I just happened to glance to my left and I noticed my Barbie Blanket hanging out of one of my unpacked bags that was open. I told myself, before leaving home that I wasn’t going to sleep with my blanket anymore when I got to college, but when I started to feel lonely I couldn’t help myself.

As soon as I cuddled my blanket it reminded me of past situations that made me feel upset. I realized that this feeling was nothing new; I reassured myself that everything was going to be better in the morning. Before I knew it I was drifting to sleep. The next morning I woke up and felt way better, the feelings of loneliness were now behind me.Why? Because I knew that if I had my Barbie Blanket I still had a little piece of home with me, and how could I be homesick if I had home with me?

Monday, April 1, 2013

Have you ever had such a good day that you feel like your floating and nothing can bring you back on solid ground? I had one of those days yesterday and I blame it on positive energy. I once read somewhere that if you have positive thoughts, your actions will follow. Yesterday I woke up feeling a little sluggish. So I woke up, jumped out of bed, hopped in the shower, and then attempted to start getting dressed. UntilI realized that my clothes that where in the dryer the night before, where still wet inside of the dryer, so what I planned on wearing for the day was too wet to put on.

My initial reaction to the unfortunate event was to yell, complain, and scream. The clock already read 7:25pm and I needed to be at the shuttle stop by 7:40. At this point, I was cutting it close, and was starting to worry that I was going to miss the shuttle and have to walk to class in the rain. I franticly started looking for clothes in the closet to throw on as quickly as possible. I found that moving fast was not working for me; it was only causing me to overlook clothing items. So I took a deep breath told myself to relax. A phrase that my High school Principle used to say everyday on the morning announcements came to mind, “Make it a great day, or not, the choice is yours”.

Then it hit me, what he really meant by that phrase is, that my thought process can dictate my mood, which will ultimately dictate my day. I then took another deep breath and told myself, “take your time and find something to wear, if you miss the bus, you won’t melt walking in the rain”. To my surprise it worked, I instantly found something to wear, by merely calming down.I told myself from then on, I was going to have a great day and guess what, it worked!

When I arrived to my 8:00 a.m. class I received my grades for a midterm and an essay. The midterm exam, wasn’t my best grade, let’s just keep it at that, but my essay grade was an A. Both assignments have a high weighted value in that particular class, typically the midterm exam grade would have made me depressed for the rest of the day. But on this particular day I told myself, “at least you tried on your midterm; you got an “A” on your essay, be thankful for the “A”.

Yesterday was one of the best day’s I have had in a long time, simply because I decided to use my thoughts to guide me towards positive energy. I challenge you to try to make your day as good as my day was yesterday. They say positive thoughts are contagious; I hope you catch my positive energy!

Be Blessed,

Kyla Bibbins

UMES Family!

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Have you had a dream or a thought so amazing that you just have to let everyone know of this masterpiece that your brain has thought up? So, you take your idea and go tell all of your friends, your roommates, your parents and anyone else who you feel would like to inform about your wonderful envision.Then after you tell everyone of this idea or thought you simply lose touch of the idea and you never act on the idea. So the masterpiece that your brain thought up remains that… a thought.

For those of you that may often find themselves in the situation where your thoughts rarely become actions. Here is some simple advice: THINK about your dream, PLAN your dream and GO act on your dream! Yes it is just that simple, jut Think, Plan and Go! Whenever you have a good idea or a dream that you want to pursue, follow your inner voice and go for it! And whatever you do, do not second guess yourself, just follow your dreams! Stop overcomplicating things and do what you have to be done to make your dream a reality, whatever your dream may be.

Be Blessed,

Kyla Bibbins

UMES Family!

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Growing up I always wished I had the opportunity to have someone older than me who I could look up to outside of family. Aside from teachers, I never really had that support system growing up who could help shape me into the young woman I would grow up to be. As I got older, I decided that since I was never granted that opportunity when I was younger, I would be that support system once I matured. It wasn’t until Spring 2012 when I finally got the opportunity to be a mentor. Yes, I was a mentor and it was the best decision I had ever made. I had no clue that UMES students were mentors to local elementary school students. It was finally my turn to make a difference and that was exactly what I did. Mrs. Hood, a representative at Greenwood Elementary said the following about the mentoring program, “The UMES student mentoring program is an integral part of our students' academic success and social well-being. The students at Greenwood Elementary School enjoy the individualized attention and interest provided to them from their mentors. The staff greatly appreciates the time and effort that has been given to our students and looks forward to continuing this invaluable partnership.” Myself and several other students from the university would take time out of our busy schedule to be a big brother or big sister to those who needed it most. Most of these children were going through a lot within their homes and they needed someone to steer them on the right path. Mentors had between one and three mentees at a time. Regular meetings with mentees consisted of working on homework, sitting in on classroom discussions, making sure everything was going on the right track and group activities on weekends. Keeping your word and showing up to meet with your mentees is one of the most important things to remember when it comes to being a men tor. I learned while mentoring that these children grow to look up to you and when you tell them something, they don’t forget it. I had the opportunity of speaking with the former principal of Princess Anne Elementary School, Mrs. Johnson and finding out her perspective on the mentoring program she said, “I was thrilled to have an opportunity to provide my students with great role models, additional help with academics, and someone that they could talk to. All of these were benefits that my students acquired through the mentoring collaboration with UMES. The mentors went above and beyond their responsibilities as a mentor to help my students. In a society where there are many negative forces impacting our children's daily lives, this mentoring program was a positive ray of hope for my students. “Becoming a mentor allowed me to better myself while helping better someone else. There are so many children, but not enough mentors out there. If you are interested in making a difference in someone’s life and mentoring at either Princess Anne Elementary School or Greenwood Elementary school, contact Dr. Wright in the History department at jkwright1492@yahoo.com.

UMES Family!

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